Six Foot Track Marathon Report – Marnie Dyson
Race Date: March 9th Results: TBC
Lead Up
I entered the lotto without thinking anything of it, I didn’t think I would get an entry but at least I could say I tried. When I got the email saying I had been drawn out for an entry I was surprised and unsure whether to follow through or not as I had never done a trail run before. But in the end I decided to enter as I knew it was very hard to get an entry and heard how great of an experience it is, and also #yolo. My very first trail run was the Dirt Train in December. We started at Wallsend and went out towards Blue Gum Hills Park run and back, it was roughly 18km. This wasn’t the toughest run I had done but I knew I had a lot of work to put in before race day. I started running in Glenrock around this time which helped with my confidence on the trails. I also did the Flyers Dirt Train in December starting at Mt Faulk Rd, this was a really good run and the aid station was AMAZING (thanks Rehbein family). My last long trail run was 2 weeks prior to the race and was approx 18km from Wakefield to the creepy servo and back. In between those longer trail runs I kept up my runs in Glenrock and did hill intervals when I could either in town or at Murrays Beach.
I entered the lotto without thinking anything of it, I didn’t think I would get an entry but at least I could say I tried. When I got the email saying I had been drawn out for an entry I was surprised and unsure whether to follow through or not as I had never done a trail run before. But in the end I decided to enter as I knew it was very hard to get an entry and heard how great of an experience it is, and also #yolo. My very first trail run was the Dirt Train in December. We started at Wallsend and went out towards Blue Gum Hills Park run and back, it was roughly 18km. This wasn’t the toughest run I had done but I knew I had a lot of work to put in before race day. I started running in Glenrock around this time which helped with my confidence on the trails. I also did the Flyers Dirt Train in December starting at Mt Faulk Rd, this was a really good run and the aid station was AMAZING (thanks Rehbein family). My last long trail run was 2 weeks prior to the race and was approx 18km from Wakefield to the creepy servo and back. In between those longer trail runs I kept up my runs in Glenrock and did hill intervals when I could either in town or at Murrays Beach.
Race Day
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The morning of the race I set my alarm for 0430. I had my usual pre-race breaky – butter and vegemite toast, banana and Twining’s English Breakfast Tea. I already had my race kit ready just needed to put my tail wind in my bottles. I was undecided whether to wear my Salomon or just take the reusable cup due to the awesome availability of aid stations but in the end I took the pack as I wanted to have my phone and spare socks.
The plan was to leave the accommodation at 0530 and head to the YHA to get on to the bus to Explorers Tree; I wanted to be at the start line with plenty of time. However we got to the YHA at around 0545 and there was a big group of people waiting. They had all been waiting since 0530 for the first bus which hadn’t showed up as of yet. |
It got to 0600 and a bus still hadn’t turned up to the YHA so luckily I had my family and the car with me so we packed up and headed to the KCC car park to wait for a bus there. When we arrived at the carpark there was still a big line but at least the buses were turning up at this location. I ended up getting on the bus around 0620ish and on the way a 4WD ran into our bus which at this point I thought I was never going to get to the start line. Luckily no one was injured and both parties exchanged details then we were back on our way to the start line.
I was in wave 3 with a start time of 0715. I got a position in the middle of wave 3 – I didn’t want to be at the front and have to set the pace down the stairs but I also didn’t want to get stuck at the back of the pack on the descent down to Nellie’s Glen. When the gun went off I felt a wave of excitement. When we got to the stairs I heard a familiar voice in fellow flyer Ian Blackwell and I kept up with him till we got to Megalong Rd crossing then he was out of sight. It was a very slow descent into Nellie’s Glen, however I was happy with the position I got in the pack as I wouldn’t have liked to have to run down those stairs. Although there hadn’t been any rain the stairs were quite slippery.
From Megalong Rd it opens up into a wider fire trail then we crossed some farmland going over the barbed wire fences using the stiles. On the descent down to the river it turns into a single trail. This is the only section where I had a few near trips. This was probably my favourite part of the race as I could keep a good pace and felt comfortable and could also take in the views as I wasn’t buggered yet.
From Megalong Rd it opens up into a wider fire trail then we crossed some farmland going over the barbed wire fences using the stiles. On the descent down to the river it turns into a single trail. This is the only section where I had a few near trips. This was probably my favourite part of the race as I could keep a good pace and felt comfortable and could also take in the views as I wasn’t buggered yet.
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Cox’s River was about waist height, once I had crossed and got to the other side I changed my socks. Rookie error I made here was not washing my shoes and shaking them out a bit like everyone else was as I was trying to save time. There was an aid station here so I also filled up my bottles and started the 10.5km climb to the top of the Pluvi. Although I had discussed this section with Ingrid and RP at training, I really underestimated how tough it would be. As I started the climb I made the decision to walk the hills and run the flats but in the end I pretty much walked the whole 10.5km. This was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done and at this point I was thinking I was crazy for signing up for this. I struggled mentally between 20-25km, I nearly cried (dramatic I know) and was ready to quit, but I just kept thinking about how far I’d come and how lucky I was to be able to do this in the first place and that kept me going. By this stage I knew I wasn’t going to reach my goal time (6hr) and was just hoping to finish by the cut off time (7hr).
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Once I got to the top of the Pluvi I felt so relieved but was still doubting myself whether I could finish or not. I walk/jogged along Black Range Rd and picked up some momentum/confidence at around the 32-34km mark. I think what helped here was in my head I was counting down the km and nearly up to the “less than 2 park runs to go”. The NRG runners also had a loud cheer squad with cowbells of course in this section which was great and really got me motivated again. I had my last tail wind top here at this aid station as well.
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The final 2km is quite steep and the terrain isn’t the best – there is a lot of loose rock and gravel. By this stage my legs were absolutely stuffed and I just wanted to turn into a sonic ball and roll down the hill. Although this part was really tough as I thought my legs/feet were going to fall off, it was quite enjoyable as I could hear all the cheers and cowbells at the finish line and was looking forward to seeing my family, and of course uploading my run to Strava and getting all the KUDOS.
I finished in a time of 6hr45min32sec, not what I was initially aiming for but I was very happy with the result. The first thing I did after I got out of the finishing area was take my shoes and my pack off – best feeling ever! |
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Nutrition wise in the race I had a gel pre-race, and another 3 within the first 3 hours with water of course. I got a bit over the gels by the 4th one (3 hours in) so after that I just stuck to the tail wind and water and it kept me going till the end. First thing post-race was a peppermint crisp from the servo and it was amazing.
I did tell my husband and my number 1 training partner/fellow Flyer Laura that I will never do it again and if I say I am don’t let me, but I think I will try to better my time one day, and I might even be able to get Laura on board next time. :-)
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